Hoth Power Generator

[Kojiro]

How large and what kind of output, relative to an ISD did the Hoth power generator have? Secondly, do ISDs carry ion cannons like the one on Hoth?

[apocolypse]

How large and what kind of output, relative to an ISD did the Hoth power generator have? Secondly, do ISDs carry ion cannons like the one on Hoth?

The only thing I know about the Hoth situation is that the Rebels obtained a reactor from a Praetor class (iirc) Star Battlecruiser. It's reactor should be more powerful than an ISDs, but I don't think it's known by how much.

As far as ISDs and ion cannons, they're outfitted with them, but they aren't like the one on Hoth. Hoth's was a planetary ion cannon, the ion cannons ships carry are much smaller.

[000]

I don't get how the reactor can be from a Praetor. By all indications the rebels could have huddled under the shield and endured a sustained bombardment for quite awhile. So, what, are Praetors invincible then?

[apocolypse]

I don't get how the reactor can be from a Praetor. By all indications the rebels could have huddled under the shield and endured a sustained bombardment for quite awhile. So, what, are Praetors invincible then?

No, Praetor's are not invincible, but from what we know they appear to be larger and more powerful than ISDs are, yet not as much so as an Executor. However, you also have to keep in mind that the Empire needed to be somewhat restrained in the attack on Echo Base. Had they wanted to, they could have gone on an all out orbital offensive and destroyed the entire thing, but that wasn't their objective. IIRC the novelization even specified that Vader wanted a "clean" bombardment, or something along those lines. Which was impossible with the Rebels theater shield raised, and why Vader was so pissed with Ozzel.

[Lazarus]

The reactor on a ship would have to power engines, weapons and all the other systems, not just shields, so if you take the reactor out and hook it up to a theatre shield generator, then that shield should have quite a bit more power than the ships own shield, surely? Although, fair enough, probably not enough to withstand an entire fleet bombardment, see apocalypse's post...

[Isolder74]

The generator has to be more that one found on some ship. As far as i can tell it is one intended from the start as a ground power station. Its output was able to raise the shield power the base, the defenses and the Ion Cannon all at once. Much of the base was shut down for sure but the Ion Cannon had to draw power from somewhere. The Shield was able to prevent an orbital bombardment with out the slagging of the planet which certainly would have killed Luke which was not an option. It showcases the advantage of a ground mounted power generator as on the ground size is much less restricted than in a spaceship. On the ground it can be as big as you want it to be.

[Doctor Doom]

Does that generator seriously look like it was taken off a ship? MAYBE you could argue that it was adapted from a ship-borne reactor, but it seems far more likely it is purpose-built planetside generator.

[Stark]

Since shields don't require power equal to their level of protection, the shields capability would be more based on the shield unit itself than how much power it draws. As mentioned, a Praetor powerplant is designed to push a ~10km ship at thousands of gs and power doubless thousands of TLs, none of which it had to do at Hoth. Being on the ground - in an ice planet, even - would have greatly simplified cooling for the powerplant and shield system, potentially increasing the performance of those units over the rated performance of a Praetor.

[apocolypse]

Isolder and Doom, it's stated explicitly in the OT:ITW that the Rebels scavenged the reactor or at least reactor equipment from a Praetor-class Star Battlecruiser. However, IIRC one of the modifications they made was to shunt energy buildup into the planet itself or something along the lines. And no, the shield didn't prevent the Death Squadron from bombarding the base, it prevented Vader from getting the "clean" strike that he was wanting. The Death Squadron could have just parked in orbit and kept slagging the planet till the base was destroyed, but that wasn't their objective.

[Doctor Doom]

Ah, I see. Ignore my last post, then.

[Isolder74]

interesting.

So it sounds like it was a salvaged generator. but from your description, when they were done with it they had a generator that would no longer function on a starship.


Either way this tells us that a ship's combat systems draw enormous amounts of power if this setup is viable.

[Batman]

Either way this tells us that a ship's combat systems draw enormous amounts of power if this setup is viable.

*scratches head*
The firepower of Wars weapons make that sort of inevitable. As does their ship accelleration.

[apocolypse]

interesting.

So it sounds like it was a salvaged generator. but from your description, when they were done with it they had a generator that would no longer function on a starship.

It may have still functioned for a starship, I can't say for certainty. From what I can gather, the Rebels didn't necessarily tweak the reactor itself, but rather how the shields would handle the incoming bombardment. I'm back home now, so I can give specific quotes. In regards to the Hoth theater shield, it states "By dumping absorbed energy directly into the planet interior, the Rebels' planet-based shield withstands bombardments that would overwhelm ship shields." Now, as far as the reactor powering the base, it's got the following under the Ion Cannon section. "Droid access tunnel to base main reactor: stolen parts from a derelict Praetor-class Star Battlecruiser." Hope this helps.

[Molyneux]

Is the Rebel power generator ever actually shown on-screen in ESB?
I was of the opinion that the structure seen, and subsequently destroyed by the walkers, was the shield generator, not the power generator.

[Connor MacLeod]

Reac tor and power generator are often used interchangably. Not that it matters, ,because it doesnt (AFAIK) specify what KIND of reactor it was (not all ships IIRC don't carry just hypermatter reactors.)

[Batman]

Is the Rebel power generator ever actually shown on-screen in ESB?
I was of the opinion that the structure seen, and subsequently destroyed by the walkers, was the shield generator, not the power generator.

Unless Veers asked for the distance to the power generator and then shot something completely different just on general principles, yes.

[Molyneux]

Is the Rebel power generator ever actually shown on-screen in ESB?
I was of the opinion that the structure seen, and subsequently destroyed by the walkers, was the shield generator, not the power generator.

Unless Veers asked for the distance to the power generator and then shot something completely different just on general principles, yes.

That doesn't make sense, then...if it was the power generator for the whole Rebel base, why would they leave it exposed like that?

[Stark]

Perhaps the visible part is only part of the device, or maybe burying it would create thermal expansion problems.

[Ender]

Is the Rebel power generator ever actually shown on-screen in ESB?
I was of the opinion that the structure seen, and subsequently destroyed by the walkers, was the shield generator, not the power generator.

Unless Veers asked for the distance to the power generator and then shot something completely different just on general principles, yes.

That doesn't make sense, then...if it was the power generator for the whole Rebel base, why would they leave it exposed like that?

As oppossed to what? It was covered by a shield.

The Praetor generator is buried beneath the Ion Cannon and apparently powers only that. The Generator Veers shot was scaled at 2.2 km long.

[Noble Ire]

Perhaps the visible part is only part of the device, or maybe burying it would create thermal expansion problems.

About half of it is buried under the ice, as is seen in the probots report back to the Executor (the computer extrapolates and images the thing as a collection of full disks, rather than just half ones).

[GuppyShark]

The line in ESB is that the shield is capable of withstanding any bombardment. While we can prevent that being no-limits by inferring he meant any bombardment the fleet could level, it does say startling things about planetary shields.

If by not powering engines/weapons, a ship could power a shield capable of standing up to bombardment from an entire squadron of ISDs and a command ship, we'd probably see that done a bit more often, especially from carriers.

Additionally, I don't buy the thermal cooling idea. Space is colder than Hoth.

[Isolder74]

As far as thermal cooling goes its area not temperature that is important. on Hoth they have a much larger area to work with. More area more heat they can dump.

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

[snip]
Additionally, I don't buy the thermal cooling idea. Space is colder than Hoth.

In space, there's almost no matter into which the reactor can dump heat, so you lose the ability to cool by convection and conduction and are left only with radiation.

Then again, there is the idea that cooling in SW is done by neutrino radiation, but even the ability to simply dump heat into the planet can do nothing but help the cooling process.

[GuppyShark]

Yep, I can buy that. Thanks.

[Sea Skimmer]

That doesn't make sense, then...if it was the power generator for the whole Rebel base, why would they leave it exposed like that?

Probably because burying it in ice would offer no real protection against the firepower of Star Wars weapons, while it would make installation a real pain. Since the Rebels would be very vulnerable in-between when they landed and when the shield could be made ready to operate, they wouldn’t want to waste any time.